Chefs Inspired by African Cuisine

A long journey can begin with a single dish. Although the continent of Africa has 54 countries and a vast amount of cultural and culinary territory, an exploration of its bold, hearty food can begin with just one recipe.

While Asian, French and Italian food are familiar to most chefs—studied, perfected, riffed on again and again—the food of Senegal, Ethiopia and South Africa is barely touched upon in a typical culinary education.

“A culinary student can get a degree but not learn a thing about the whole continent of Africa, even as they might spend a whole semester on Asia. There’s some balance needed,” says Wilbert Jones, president of the Wilbert Jones Company and host of the TV series “A Taste of Africa: Culture and Cuisine from Casablanca to Cape Town.” He has written several cookbooks on African cuisine and is currently at work on another.

Chicago-based Jones began his lecture and tasting series at Kendall College with the cuisine of Senegal, a country on the western coast of Africa.

Stews in Senegal

Like many countries in Africa, Senegal has been influenced by colonization and exploration. French and Portuguese flavors and cooking methods have been applied to local ingredients: fish, peas, nuts, yams, rice, corn, okra, tomatoes, hot chilies and more.

Yassas are stews found all over western Africa that are made with marinated meat. In one such stew, Senegalese Poulet (chicken) Yassa, chicken is marinated for a long time in lemon juice, which tenderizes the tough poultry of the region. Yassa can also be made with fish, onions, carrots, cabbage. The stews get a distinctive flavor from a Dijon mustard sauce and pimiento-stuffed olives.

“You can taste the influence of France with the Dijon, and also the Mediterranean, with the olives,” Jones says. Many of the spices in African cooking originated in India, lending curry flavor and flares of heat throughout many dishes. Stews in Senegal are most often served over rice or with fufu, a kind of porridge made of ground rice and milk.

Another dish Jones demonstrated at Kendall College was Senegal’s national dish, thie’boudienne (cheb-oo JEN), a whole redfish, the flesh slashed with a sharp knife and stuffed with parsley, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper, then cooked over a bed of onions, tomato paste, chopped carrot and cabbage.